scholarly journals The COVID-19 pandemic: a catalyst for creativity and collaboration for online learning and work-based higher education systems and processes

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tashmin Khamis ◽  
Azra Naseem ◽  
Anil Khamis ◽  
Pammla Petrucka
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Faculty Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to focus on work-based problems catalysed by the COVID-19 global pandemic, based on a case study of a multi-continental, multi-campus university distributed across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Pakistan. Higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries lacked pre-existing infrastructure to support online education and/or policy and regulatory frameworks during the pandemic. The university's programmes in Pakistan and East Africa provide lessons to other developing countries' HEIs. The university's focus on teaching and learning and staff development has had a transformational organisational effect.Design/methodology/approachCase study with participatory approaches aimed at co-production of responsive systems and co-creation of effective curriculum and faculty training is used.FindingsSystems and processes developed across the university in the effort to ensure educational continuity. From the disruption to all educational programmes and the disarray of regulatory bodies' responses, collaboration emerged as a key driver of positive change. The findings reiterate the value of trust and provision of opportunities for those with the requisite competencies to lead in a participatory and distributive manner whilst addressing limited human and financial resources. The findings reflect on previous work respecting organisational change recast in the digital age.Originality/valueThis paper reflects the authors' work in real-time as they led and managed changes encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper will be of value to management and leadership cadres, particularly in developing contexts, responsible for recovery and sustainability of the higher education sector.

Deconstructing quality in South African higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kehdinga George Fomunyam
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
South African Higher Education

Purpose This study aims to examine six South African universities with a particular focus on the quality of teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study approach was adopted and data were mainly generated by means of open-ended questionnaires. The questionnaire was circulated to approximately 1,800 students and 746 completed it. The data were categorized and analysed thematically, using both national and international benchmarks for quality teaching and learning. Findings The findings reveal that teaching and learning in South African universities is marred by a plethora of challenges. Lecturers lack basic skills and essential resources to effectively facilitate teaching and learning. Furthermore, quality benchmarks set by the Council on Higher Education are only met on paper and little or nothing is done to translate this into practice. Originality/value The study proposes among others that clearer policies on funding are recommended to ensure proper allocation of resources, staff development and institutional comeliness. Finally, to enhance transformation, universities should prioritize teaching and learning and take steps to ensure that those teaching in the classroom are qualified to do so.

Discovering inspiring teaching: immersive models of staff development

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Hennessy ◽  
Gill Adams ◽  
Elizabeth Mahon ◽  
Sarah Nixon ◽  
Andrea Pratt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Staff Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
And Training ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Staff Practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline an innovative method of delivering staff development in an higher education (HE) setting. The paper evaluates the processes behind the “Focus on Inspiring Teaching” week and outlines its initial impact on staff. Design/methodology/approach – This is a descriptive case study which highlights how an immersive staff development event can be used to enable HE teaching practitioners to utilise more inspiring approaches to teaching and learning. The paper draws on questionnaire evaluations (n = 43). Findings – The paper highlights how staff development events can be used to foster communities of practice for teaching staff. For this to be successful, staff needs to be committed to reflecting on their own practice and be sufficiently engaged to partake actively of staff development events. By establishing these communities, inspiring practice in teaching can be developed with successful outcomes. The paper outlines a model for staff development which could be established in other HE settings. Practical implications – Immersive staff development events are effective in achieving sustainable impact. To achieve success effective leadership and a team of committed teaching staff are needed. Success was also fostered by not making sessions compulsory whereby the staff could opt in for sessions to fit around teaching schedules. Originality/value – This paper will be of interest to those working in staff development and training and academic managers. It indicates how immersive staff development can have a positive impact on staff practice to bring about improvements to the student experience.

New norms and opportunities from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in a higher education setting: perspectives from Universiti Brunei Darussalam

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masitah Shahrill ◽  
Mohamad Iskandar Petra ◽  
Lin Naing ◽  
Joanna Yacob ◽  
Jose H. Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brunei Darussalam ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The University

PurposeThis paper aims to share how it was possible to change the way business was conducted in a short period in order to continue the academic semester and seek alternatives to manage the day-to-day university affairs in the midst of a pandemic crisis at a higher education setting. As a result, the authors’ experiences have created new norms and opportunities for the university.Design/methodology/approachThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Brunei Darussalam is an evolving situation with extraordinary challenges for staff and students of the university. Although the campus remains open and essential services were continuously provided, the university had to implement and adapt to new norms instinctively to minimise the potential pathways for community spread of the coronavirus and at the same time minimise interruption in teaching and learning.FindingsFirstly, structured blended learning will be the basis of teaching and learning, alongside ensuring the highest quality of online education and successful achievement of the intended learning objectives. Secondly, blended learning will open more opportunities to offer programmes in a more flexible, personalised, student-centric and lifelong learning manner, with the option of taking a study hiatus at students' convenience. Thirdly, there will be more global classrooms and the exchange of online modules with international partner universities. Fourthly, short programmes such as the Global Discovery Programmes will be modified and improvised to become an online learning experience. And finally, there will also be the opportunity to understand and consider the physical and mental well-being and durability of the university community in overcoming a national crisis situation.Originality/valueThis paper is intended to be a conceptual paper where the authors describe novel experiences during the pandemic. The authors’ views, interventions and experiences may result into a new model for higher education that will reposition students to the new global markets and economy.

Adaptive education applied to higher education for sustainability

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1111-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Earl ◽  
Robert VanWynsberghe ◽  
Pierre Walter ◽  
Timothy Straka
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Real World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Interpretive Case Study ◽  
Real World Learning ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

Purpose This paper aims to present an interpretive case study in education for sustainability (EfS) that applies VanWynsberghe and Herman’s (2015, 2016) adaptive education as pedagogy. Dewey’s theory of behaviour change is applied to educative experiences based on habit disruption and real-world learning, leading to creativity in the formation of new habits. The programme presented inverts dominant conceptions of knowledge to design innovative sustainability pedagogy. Instead knowledge resides alongside experience, cases, intuition, advice, experimentation and dialogue in the individual and collective effort to address daily sustainability challenges. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on the outcomes of an interpretive case study (Merriam, 1998) of a higher education programme in sustainability pedagogy. It presents a series of reflections by instructors and participants in discussing the programme’s relationship with the core themes of habit, disruption, creative action and dialogue framed within the five features of adaptive education: stakeholders, real-world learning, off campus, transdisciplinarity and non-traditional rewards. Findings Through this examination, the authors found that adaptive education offered a pedagogy that simultaneously addressed the need for increased sustainability knowledge, whilst inverting its dominance. As a long-term project, the extent of the programme’s impact will be evident beyond the programme’s completion. Research limitations/implications This interpretive case study is analysed through high-level conceptual and theoretical aspects of the pedagogy rather than the particularities of the case. By putting the centrality of knowledge into question, the authors are advocating for a more experimental role for higher education in its teaching and learning. These questions are broadly applicable. Social implications There are research, learning and social benefits to this programme. Adaptive education builds capacity for future leaders and educators of sustainability. Originality/value The paper concludes with a discussion for further theorizing and research on adaptive education and EfS in higher education. This research will contribute to broader discussions of the evolving role of education in sustainability.

scholarly journals Responses to COVID-19 in Higher Education: Social Media Usage for Sustaining Formal Academic Communication in Developing Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih ◽  
Ahmed M. Hasanein ◽  
Ahmed E. Abu Elnasr
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Academic Communication

The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 has forced higher education institutions to shift from face-to-face to online education. However, many public institutions, especially in developing countries, often do not have access to formal online learning management systems (LMS) for facilitating communication with students and/or among faculty members. This research empirically examines the extent to which social media sites are adopted by faculty members and students for sustaining formal, i.e., sole and official tools, academic communication. For this purpose, online questionnaire surveys, supplemented with in-depth interviews, were undertaken with both faculty members and students. The results showed that students’ personal usage of social media has promoted its effective usage for sustaining formal teaching and learning. However, significant differences were found between faculty members and students regarding social media usage for student support and building an online community. Students used social media for building an online community and supporting each other, whereas faculty members were focused on teaching and learning exclusively. The results confirm that proper usage of social media could promote a new era of social learning, social presence and an alternative platform to foster online learning. Research implications for higher education policymakers, especially in developing countries, and scholars are discussed.

scholarly journals Group Work And Distance Online Learning in Higher Education – Reflecting on the Covid-19 Experience in the Natural Sciences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pillay Rajendran
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Technology ◽  
Pedagogical Strategy ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Impact

The sudden shift to online education at higher education institutions due to the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on teaching and learning. For many the “new experience” meant learning or improving on the use of online technology in the distance mode. Although there have been many studies conducted on the impact of the pandemic on higher education, there is a paucity of research on specific pedagogies to mediate learning in the distance context, group work being one of them. This paper presents a reflective analysis of a case study in which group work was a pedagogical strategy used during the lockdown. Data collection involved questionnaires and a part transcript of a group’s mobile synchronous text chat. The data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively for the open and closed questions, respectively. The findings reveal mobile phones as the most common technological device used, the specific challenge of data and internet access on group work success, and the professional benefit of developing social skills even in a distance online context. The study confirms that group work is a viable pedagogical strategy to mediate distance online learning which requires the expert guidance of the lecturer and reflection by group members to improve their distance online interactions.

scholarly journals Doing staff development: Practices, dilemmas and technologies

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hannon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Development ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Learning Technology

<span>Online learning technologies now pervade higher education institutions, and the convergence of teaching and learning onto technological systems has created new work practices and a demand for staff development. Educational developers are located at a nexus between the institutional and pragmatic imperatives, from which tensions and incongruencies emerge and need to be resolved in daily practice. In this paper, this nexus is explored by analysing accounts of educational development practice from one institution, based on interviews with educational developers. This paper considers staff development practices in higher education in response to the processes of change associated with learning technology, and the strategies used to resolve incongruencies and conflicts that emerged from these practices were analysed. The discourse analytic method of "interpretative repertoires" (Potter &amp; Wetherell, 1987) is used to explore the resolution of dilemmas in practice. In this case study, two contrasting repertoires are used to account for staff development: one that 'enables' academic staff in their use of learning technologies, and another which 'guides' staff in their online teaching towards specified technologies. The intersection of the two repertoires in the institution presented dilemmas for educational developers. The responses to these contexts and the implications for educational development are explored.</span>

Teaching with social media: evidence-based strategies for making remote higher education less remote

2020 ◽  
Vol 121 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 513-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Greenhow ◽  
Sarah Galvin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Post Secondary

Purpose As higher education moves to formats that are not face-to-face classes in the wake of a global pandemic, educators need research-based guidelines to inform instructional planning and implementation. This study aims to provide recommendations for teaching with social media, as a complement and enhancement to traditional online teaching approaches. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on reviews of the research literature and the authors’ own experiences in studying and integrating social media into remote teaching and learning in university settings. Findings Learning environments that blend asynchronous online elements, where students can go at their own pace, on their own time, have some choice over their learning and are regularly and meaningfully engaging with other students, their teacher and the subject matter are most successful for student learning. Social media, with its affordances for personal profiling, relationship-building, content creation and socializing, when thoughtfully integrated into an online education plan, can help students and teachers stay connected while apart, enhance students’ engagement and make remote learning seem less remote. Practical implications The paper includes instructional guidelines for instructors and instructional designers in various post-secondary settings who seek to integrate social media as part of their strategy for remote higher education. Originality/value This study fulfills an identified need for pragmatic approaches to online higher education using social media.

scholarly journals Learning from within: a longitudinal case study of an education research group

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Burt ◽  
Kathryn Lundgren ◽  
Joshua Schroetter
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Research ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Research Competencies

Purpose Professionals in higher education are expected to be informed consumers of knowledge who seek out scholarship, critical evaluators of the applicability of extant knowledge, and contributors who build new knowledge for higher education practice. Despite the understood importance of developing research competencies, many have limited opportunities to develop these skills. This study aims to explore one way individuals develop research competencies: through participation in team-based research experiences. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal case study approach was used to investigate what participants in an education research group learn, and how their participation in the group changes the ways in which they think about themselves as researchers and scholars. Four group members participated in two focus group interviews (at the end of the fall 2015 and spring 2016 academic semesters). Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings Study participants report gaining knowledge about research, developing an identity as a researcher, and learning about faculty roles. Particular group practices and activities (e.g. full group meetings, subgroup meetings, professional development moments) helped mediate members’ learning and identity development. Originality/value Research groups should be considered valuable contexts where teaching and learning take place. By learning – and integrating what we learn – from research group participation, the higher education and student affairs fields may become better able to generate innovative practices and activities that provide students and professionals with opportunities to develop important research competencies.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: THE FREQUENCY AND VARIETY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO ONLINE INSTRUCTORS

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Heather Herman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Learning Development ◽  
Printed Materials

Online education is no longer a peripheral phenomenon in higher education: over one-third of faculty have taught or developed an online course. As institutions of higher education expand their online education offerings, administrators need to recognize that supporting faculty through the use of incentives and through effective faculty development programs for online instruction is important to the improvement of the quality of educational programs. This quantitative study used an online survey to investigate the types and frequency of faculty development programs for online instruction at institutions with an established teaching and learning development unit (TLDU). The average TLDU offered about fifteen different types of faculty development programs, the most common being websites, technical services, printed materials, and consultation with instructional design experts.

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